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ONCE UPON A TIME THERE WAS A YOUNG RAT NAMED ARTHUR WHO COULDN'T MAKE UP HIS MIND | |
WHENEVER THE OTHER RATS ASKED HIM IF HE WOULD LIKE TO GO OUT HUNTING WITH THEM HE WOULD ANSWER IN A SOFT VOICE I DON'T KNOW. | |
AND WHEN THEY SAID WOULD YOU RATHER STAY INSIDE HE WOULDN'T SAY YES OR NO EITHER. | |
HE'D ALWAYS AVOID MAKING A CHOICE | |
ONE FINE DAY HIS AUNT ZELDA APPEALED TO HIM NOW LOOK HERE | |
NO ONE IS GOING TO CARE ABOUT YOU IF YOU CARRY ON LIKE THIS | |
YOU HAVE NO MORE MIND OF YOUR OWN THAN A GREASY OLD BLADE OF GRASS | |
ARTHUR COUGHED AND LOOKED WISE AS USUAL BUT SAID NOTHING | |
DON'T YOU THINK SO SAID ZELDA STAMPING HER FOOT FOR SHE COULDN'T BEAR TO SEE THE POOR LITTLE RAT SO COLDBLOODED | |
I DON'T KNOW WAS ALL HE EVER ANSWERED | |
AND THEN HE'D WALK OFF TO THINK FOR AN HOUR OR MORE | |
ABOUT WHETHER HE WOULD STAY IN HIS HOLE IN THE GROUND OR GO UP INTO THE LOFT | |
ONE NIGHT THE RATS HEARD A LOUD NOISE | |
THEY LIVED IN A VERY DARK AND DREARY OLD PLACE | |
THE ROOF LET THE RAIN COME WASHING IN | |
MAKING SHALLOW POOLS ON THE MUDDY FLOOR. | |
THE BEAMS AND RAFTERS WERE ALL ROTTEN THROUGH | |
SO EVENTUALLY THE WHOLE STRUCTURE WAS QUITE UNSAFE | |
AT LAST ONE OF THE JOISTS GAVE WAY AND THE BEAMS FELL DOWN. | |
THE WALLS SHOOK AND THE CEILING COLLAPSED WITH A LOUD BANG | |
THE RATS SHRIEKED AND THEIR FUR STOOD ON END WITH FEAR AND HORROR | |
THIS WON'T DO SAID THEIR LEADER WITH A SCOWL | |
WE CAN'T STAY COOPED UP HERE ANY LONGER. | |
SO HE SENT OUT SCOUTS TO SEARCH FOR A NEW HOME | |
A LITTLE LATER ON IN THE EVENING THEY CAME BACK | |
HAVING FOUND AN OLD-FASHIONED BARN NEAR A STONE HOUSE WHERE THERE WOULD BE ROOM | |
BOARD AND FOOD FOR ALL OF THEM. | |
THERE THEY SAW A KINDLY MARE NAMED ALBERTA | |
A COW AND SOME BIRDS IN THE GARDEN WITH AN ELM TREE IN THE MIDDLE. | |
THE LEADER GAVE THE ORDER AT ONCE COMPANY FALL IN. | |
THE RATS CRAWLED OUT OF THEIR HOLES RIGHT AWAY AND THE SAD MOB STOOD ON THE FLOOR IN A LONG LINE | |
JUST THEN THE OLD RAT CAUGHT SIGHT OF YOUNG ARTHUR | |
HE WASN'T IN THE LINE AND HE WASN'T EXACTLY OUTSIDE IT | |
HE STOOD JUST NEARBY EARS PRICKED. | |
COME ON GET IN LINE GROWLED THE OLD RODENT UNAMUSED. | |
YOU ARE COMING TOO AREN’T YOU | |
I DON'T KNOW SAID ARTHUR CALMLY. | |
WHY THE IDEA OF IT YOU DON'T THINK IT'S SAFE HERE ANYMORE DO YOU | |
I'M NOT CERTAIN SAID ARTHUR UNDAUNTED. | |
THE ROOF MAY NOT FALL DOWN YET. | |
WELL SAID THE OLD RAT YOU WOULD BE STUPID NOT TO JOIN US. | |
THEN HE TURNED TO THE ASSEMBLED GROUP AND SHOUTED | |
RIGHT ABOUT FACE MARCH | |
AND THE LONG LINE MARCHED OUT OF THE BARN WHILE THE YOUNG RAT WATCHED THEM | |
I THINK I'LL GO TOMORROW HE SAID TO HIMSELF | |
BUT THEN AGAIN PERHAPS I WON'T | |
IT'S SO NICE AND SNUG HERE. | |
I GUESS I'LL GO BACK TO MY HOLE UNDER THE LOG FOR A WHILE BEFORE I MAKE UP MY MIND | |
BUT DURING THE NIGHT THERE WAS A BIG CRASH. | |
DOWN CAME BEAMS RAFTERS JOISTS — THE WHOLE BUSINESS IN A PILE OF RUBBLE | |
NEXT MORNING THERE WAS A FOGGY DEW. | |
SOME BOYS AND GIRLS RAN TO THE BARN AND A MAN IN BOOTS CAME TO VIEW THE DAMAGE. | |
IT SEEMED ODD THAT THE OLD BUILDING WAS NOT HAUNTED BY RATS. | |
BUT AT LAST ONE OF THE CHILDREN HAPPENED TO NUDGE A BOARD AND HE SAW A PUNY RAT | |
QUITE DEAD TAIL HALF IN AND HALF OUT OF HIS HOLE. | |
THUS THE COWARD GOT HIS DUE AND THERE WAS NO MOURNING FOR HIM | |
ONCE UPON A TIME THERE WAS A GIRL CALLED CINDERELLA | |
BUT EVERYONE CALLED HER CINDERS | |
CINDERS LIVED WITH HER MOTHER AND TWO STEPSISTERS CALLED LILY AND ROSA. | |
LILY AND ROSA WERE VERY UNFRIENDLY AND THEY WERE LAZY GIRLS. | |
THEY SPENT ALL THEIR TIME BUYING NEW CLOTHES AND GOING TO PARTIES | |
POOR CINDERS HAD TO WEAR ALL THEIR OLD HAND-ME-DOWNS | |
AND SHE HAD TO DO THE CLEANING | |
ONE DAY A ROYAL MESSENGER CAME TO ANNOUNCE A BALL | |
THE BALL WOULD BE HELD AT THE ROYAL PALACE IN HONOUR OF THE QUEENS ONLY SON PRINCE WILLIAm | |
LILY AND ROSA THOUGHT THIS WAS DIVINE | |
PRINCE WILLIAM WAS GORGEOUS AND HE WAS LOOKING FOR A BRIDE | |
THEY DREAMED OF WEDDING BELLS | |
WHEN THE EVENING OF THE BALL ARRIVED CINDERS HAD TO HELP HER SISTERS GET READY | |
THEY WERE IN A BAD MOOD | |
THEY'D WANTED TO BUY SOME NEW GOWNS BUT THEIR MOTHER SAID THAT THEY HAD ENOUGH GOWNS | |
SO THEY STARTED SHOUTING AT CINDERS | |
'FIND MY JEWELS' YELLED ONE | |
'FIND MY HAT' HOWLED THE OTHER | |
THEY WANTED HAIRBRUSHES HAIRPINS AND HAIR SPRAY | |
WHEN THE SUNLIGHT STRIKES RAINDROPS IN THE AIR THEY ACT AS A PRISM AND FORM A RAINbow | |
THE RAINBOW IS A DIVISION OF WHITE LIGHT INTO MANY BEAUTIFUL COLORS | |
THESE TAKE THE SHAPE OF A LONG ROUND ARCH WITH ITS PATH HIGH ABOVE AND ITS TWO ENds apparently beyond the horizon | |
THERE IS ACCORDING TO LEGEND A BOILING POT OF GOLD AT ONE END | |
PEOPLE LOOK BUT NO ONE EVER FINDS IT | |
WHEN A MAN LOOKS FOR SOMETHING BEYOND HIS REACH HIS FRIENDS SAY HE IS LOOKING FOR the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow | |
THROUGHOUT THE CENTURIES PEOPLE HAVE EXPLAINED THE RAINBOW IN VARIOUS WAYS | |
SOME HAVE ACCEPTED IT AS A MIRACLE WITHOUT PHYSICAL EXPLANATION | |
TO THE HEBREWS IT WAS A TOKEN THAT THERE WOULD BE NO MORE UNIVERSAL FLOODS | |
THE GREEKS USED TO IMAGINE THAT IT WAS A SIGN FROM THE GODS TO FORETELL WAR OR HEAVy rain | |
THE NORSEMEN CONSIDERED THE RAINBOW AS A BRIDGE OVER WHICH THE GODS PASSED FROM EARth to their home in the sky | |
OTHERS HAVE TRIED TO EXPLAIN THE PHENOMENON PHYSICALLY | |
ARISTOTLE THOUGHT THAT THE RAINBOW WAS CAUSED BY REFLECTION OF THE SUN'S RAYS BY THe rain | |
SINCE THEN PHYSICISTS HAVE FOUND THAT IT IS NOT REFLECTION | |
BUT REFRACTION BY THE RAINDROPS WHICH CAUSES THE RAINBOWS | |
MANY COMPLICATED IDEAS ABOUT THE RAINBOW HAVE BEEN FORMED | |
THE DIFFERENCE IN THE RAINBOW DEPENDS CONSIDERABLY UPON THE SIZE OF THE DROPS | |
AND THE WIDTH OF THE COLORED BAND INCREASES AS THE SIZE OF THE DROPS INCREASES | |
THE ACTUAL PRIMARY RAINBOW OBSERVED | |
IS SAID TO BE THE EFFECT OF SUPER-IMPOSITION OF A NUMBER OF BOWS. | |
IF THE RED OF THE SECOND BOW FALLS UPON THE GREEN OF THE FIRST | |
THE RESULT IS TO GIVE A BOW WITH AN ABNORMALLY WIDE YELLOW BAND | |
SINCE RED AND GREEN LIGHT WHEN MIXED FORM YELLOW | |
THIS IS A VERY COMMON TYPE OF BOW | |
ONE SHOWING MAINLY RED AND YELLOW |
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